With the rather
predictable exception of Nancy Holder's effort, Pocket Books' Angel
novels have been shaping up nicely, and Don DeBrandt's Shakedown
certainly doesn't let the side down.

Doyle's vision of an
earthquake that destroys Los Angeles leads Angel Investigations into
contact with a couple of interesting demon races.

The first, the
Serpentene are a wealthy bunch of demons descended from snakes, whose
affluence is able to override Cordy's dislike of all things demonic -
not something that Doyle can hope to achieve due to his fondness for
bars and gambling. The second are the Temblors, a race of powerful
quake demons.

As usual, Angel
Investigations' current case leads Angel to reflect on his past life as
Angelus, and we get to see just why he's guilt ridden and brooding.

Cordy and Doyle are
also well handled, although like the TV series, the novels don't get the
Irish side of things quite right. Nevertheless, Cordy's acting
ambitions and Doyle's gambling - his being down on his luck proves
invaluable - are all present and correct.

There was the
possibility that both the Serpentene and the Tremblors could have been
little more than your average Doctor Who bad guys with a
talkative leader and his band of heavies. Fortunately, both demon
races prove interesting, although Cordy possibly seems a little too
friendly with one, even if it seems that it could provide her big break.

However, that's not
really a problem and Shakedown proves well up the standard of the
rest of the range. It's nice to see Doyle in a few more stories,
but after four original novels, perhaps it's time for Pocket Books to
start setting their novels post-Hero.